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A S Byatt, J M Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Hilary Mantel, Simon Mawer and Sarah Waters are the shortlisted authors for the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. The shortlist was announced by Chair of judges James Naughtie at a press conference held at the Man Group plc’s London headquarters on 8 September.
The six books, selected from the Man Booker Prize longlist of 13, are:
- The Children’s Book by A S Byatt (Random House, Chatto and Windus)
- Summertime by J M Coetzee (Random House, Harvill Secker)
- The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds (Random House, Jonathan Cape)
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)
- The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (Little, Brown)
- The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Little, Brown, Virago)
Having previously won in 1999 with Disgrace and 1983 with Life & Times of Michael K, South African writer J.M. Coetzee would be the first author to win the Man Booker Prize three times if successful this year. A.S. Byatt is in the running for a second win – her novel Possession won the Booker Prize in 1990. Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black was longlisted in 2005 and both Mantel and Byatt have been judges of the prize. Sarah Waters has been shortlisted twice for Fingersmith (2002) and The Night Watch (2006). The youngest on the list, at 34, is Adam Foulds and Simon Mawer is shortlisted for his eighth novel, The Glass Room.
The winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction will be revealed on Tuesday 6 October 2009 at a dinner at London’s Guildhall and will be broadcast on BBC News across television, radio and online. The winning author will receive £50,000 and can look forward to greatly increased sales and worldwide recognition. Each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, receives £2,500 and a designer bound edition of their own book.
For more information visit the website www.themanbookerprize.com